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I     I     Covers  damaged  / 

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I     I     Addttkxial  comments/ 

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This  inm  ii  filmad  ti  tht  rtduction  ratio  dMckid  below/ 
C*  document  est  f  ilmi  lu  taux  de  rMuction  indtque  ei-dewow. 
lOX  14X  «X 


12X 


20X 


22X 


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Th*  copy  filmad  h«r«  hn  bMn  rapreduoad  thanks 
to  the  ganarotity  of: 

Univtrtity  of  Saikstchtwan 
Snkatoon 


L'axamplaira  film*  fut  raprodult  grica  *  la 
gtntroaltt  da: 

Unlviraity  of  SMkatehmin 
SMkMoon 


Tha  Imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
pouibia  eonaidaring  tha  condition  and  laglbillty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apaelfleatlona. 


Original  coplaa  In  printad  papar  eovara  ara  flimwl 
baglnning  with  tha  front  eovar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  lllustratad  Imprai- 
tlon,  or  tha  back  eovar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  coplaa  ara  filmad  baglnning  on  tha 
firat  paga  wKh  a  printad  or  llluatratad  Impraa- 
ilon,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  llluatratad  Impraaslon. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aach  microflcha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  —^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  V  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 


Laa  Imagaa  sulvantaa  ont  ttt  raproduitaa  avac  la 
plua  grand  soin,  eompta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  I'axampialra  film4.  at  an 
oonformM  avac  laa  conditions  du  contrat  da 
flimaga. 

Laa  axampiairaa  origlnaux  dont  la  eouvartura  an 
papiar  aat  Imprimta  sont  fiimto  an  comman9ant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarmlnant  salt  par  la 
damMra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'Impraaslon  ou  d'lllustratlan,  salt  par  la  aacond 
plat,  salon  la  eaa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axampiairaa 
origlnaux  aont  flimte  an  eommanfant  par  la 
pramlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
dimpraaslon  ou  d'lllustration  at  an  tarmlnant  par 
la  damMra  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 

Un  daa  aymbotaa  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la 
damiira  Imaga  da  cliaqua  microflcha,  sa<c>n  la 
caa:  la  symbola  -*■  signifia  "A  SUIVRE".  la 
aymbolo  ▼  signlfia  "FIN". 


Mapa.  plataa.  charta,  ate.,  may  ba  flimad  at 
diffaram  reduction  ratioa.  Thoaa  too  large  to  be 
entirely  Included  In  one  expoeure  ere  filmed 
beginning  In  the  upper  left  hand  comer,  loft  to 
right  end  top  to  bottom,  ee  meny  framee  ae 
required.  The  following  diegrema  Illustrate  the 
method: 


Lee  eartee,  pianchoa,  tabiaeux,  etc..  peuvent  toe 
flimte  t  dee  teux  de  rMuction  difftronts. 
Loraque  le  document  eet  trap  grend  pour  ttre 
reproduK  on  un  soul  clleh4, 11  eet  film*  1  pertir 
da  Tangle  aupMeur  gauche,  de  gauche  i  drolte, 
at  da  haut  en  baa,  en  prenent  le  nombra 
d'imagee  nieeaaaire.  I.ee  diegrammee  suhranta 
llluatrant  la  mithode. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MKIOCOrr   RBOUtTION  TBT  CMAIIT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


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•^i!^m*?i^^:-  • 


The  Early  Days 
of  Cornell 


GOLDWIN  SMITH 


Shortt 
LO 
1369 
.S64 


1 


THE 


EARLY  DAYS  OF  CORNELL 


BY 

GOLDWIN  SMITH,  D.CL. 

EMERITUS   PROFESSOR  OP  CORNELL   UNIVERSITY 

SOMETIME  REGIUS  7ROPESSOR  OP  I.ODERN 

HISTORY  AT  OXPORD 


ITHACA,  NEW  YORK 

1904 


JAN  23  1973 


62r;56i 


AtrORUI  *  CHURCH, 

PKtKTBBI, 

ITHACA,  N    Y 


THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CORNELL 


It  was  on  a  No/einl)cr  morning  in  the  year  1868,  a 
morning  chill,  dark,  and  sad  with  rain,  but  bright  in 
my  life,  that,  li.iving  travelled  by  the  night  train 
from  New  York,  I  first  wt  foot  in  Ithaca.  I  was  re- 
ceived bv  Andrew  D.  White,  and  after  breakfaMting 
at  the  Clinton  Honse,  taken  ont  on  the  'n.\  by  Ezia 
Cornell  In  his  well-known  buggy.  Tht.  '.len  stood 
on  that  hill  one  far  from  imposing  block  of  building, 
.viorrill  Hall  I  believe  it  is  now  called.  The  Campus 
had  not  been  laid  out.  No  bridge  was  over  the  creek. 
All  was  Rome  before  Rome  was  built,  and  for  the 
new-comer  f'om  that  venerable  city  by  the  Isis  had 
the  full  ch     n  of  novelty. 

Now,  after  the  lapse  of  a  little  more  than  a  single 
generation,  re-visiting  Cornell,  I  see  all  these  buildings, 
homes  of  learning  and  s  .--nee  in  every  branch,  while 
the  fair  Campus  is  bus  \nd  cheeriul  with  the  life 
of  three  thousand  students.  Such  is  the  magic  of 
American  energy  and  enterprise. 

I  had  been  in  the  United  States  in  the  time  of  the 
war,  when  I  was  Professor  of  Modern  History  at  Ox- 
ford.     Family  reasons  having  afterwards  led   to  the 


4  The  Early  Days  of  C»nell 

resignation  of  my  Professorship,  I  was  left  without 
any  special  occupation  and  was  thinking;  of  re-visiting 
the  United  States.  Just  then  it  was  my  good  fortune 
to  meet  Andrew  D.  White,  who  invited  me  to  take  part 
as  Lecturer  on  History  in  the  foundation  of  the  new 
University.  The  invitation  was  gladly  accepted.  The 
Lectureships  were  non-resident.  But  I  willingly  re- 
sided and  took  a  regular  part  in  the  teaching  for  two 
years.  Originally  the  Lecturers  were  ten  in  number ; 
now  I  am  afraid  we  are  one. 

Raw  as  everything  then  was,  the  eyes  of  the  new- 
comer could  not  fail  to  feed  on  the  supreme  beauty  of 
the  site ;  the  platform  overhanging  the  lake  ;  the  azure 
lake,  the  gorges,  the  waterfalls,  the  woods,  which,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  still  retained  some  fringes  of  their 
scarlet  and  gold.  Among  all  the  sites  for  buildings 
which  I  have  seen,  there  is  not  one  which  excels,  I 
doubt  if  there  is  one  which  equals,  the  Campus  at 
Cornell. 

Ithaca  has  grown  since  that  day  and  dubbed  herself  a 
city.  But  she  has  not  greatly  changed.  One  immense 
improvement,  however,  there  has  been.  Blessed  is  the 
originator  of  the  trolleys.  I  was  then  comparatively 
light  and  nimble,  yet  it  was  Alpine  climbing  up  that 
hill.     A  corpulent  Professor  might  have  realized  the 


The  Early  Days  of  Q>mell 


feelings  of  the  fat  Gibbon  toiling  up  the  hill  at  Lausanne 
to  visit  his  lady  love. 

**0  should  she  Blnile  !  yet  should  she  frown, 
Still,  O  what  raptute  to  sit  down  !  " 

To  a  lady  who  complained  of  being  kept  long  waiting 
for  the  trolley  an  eminent  Professor  is  said  to  have  re- 
plied :  "  Madam,  I  waited  for  it  for  twenty  years."  If 
he  lived  on  the  South  Hill  and  had  both  hills  to  ascend 
and  descend,  his  wail  would  be  still  more  pathetic. 

I  boarded  during  the  first  weeks  in  the  Clinton  House, 
where  I  enjoyed  the  company  of  Agassiz,  a  great  man 
of  science,  simple  as  a  child.  He  told  me  that  he  never 
used  a  banker,  but  kept  his  money  in  his  pocket,  and 
when  it  was  all  spent,  gave  a  course  of  lectures  and 
made  some  more.  He  amused  us  in  one  of  his  lectures 
by  an  explanation  of  the  deluge  in  Genesis  which  he 
thought  would  satisfy  Ithacan  orthodoxy.  "  When  the 
Mississippi  overflows,  what  do  we  hear  ?  We  hear  that 
the  whole  country  is  under  water."  He  stood  out  to 
the  end  against  Evolution,  but  this  did  not  annul  the 
value  of  his  inquiry  into  Species. 

Other  notable  members  of  the  corps  of  lecturers  were 
George  William  Curtis,  Lowell,  and  Bayard  Taylor. 
Curtis  was  an  admirable  speaker,  an  excellent  writer 
on   politics,  a  high-minded   patriot,  a   true  statesman 


I ! 


The  Eatly  Days  of  Comell 


lost;  lost  because  being  a  Republican  he  lived  in  a 
Democratic  district,  and  by  the  local  restriction  which 
American  constituencies  have  imposed  upon  themselves 
in  their  choice  of  representatives,  but  from  which  Eng- 
land and  Canada  are  free,  he  was  excluded  from  elec- 
tion to  the  Legislature.  Lowell  I  had  met  when  I  was 
at  Boston  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war  ;  his  patriot  soul 
was  then  full  of  resentment  against  Great  Britain  which 
he,  like  Americans  in  general,  wrongly  identified  with 
the  Tory  party  and  the  Times.  It  was  difficult  for  a 
Britisher  to  accost  him  without  drawing  a  spark  of 
patriot  fire.  But  years  afterwards  I  found  him  in  Lon- 
don a  favourite  of  London  society,  renowned  as  an  after- 
dinner  speaker,  the  competitor  in  that  art  of  Lord 
Granville,  the  great  master  of  it,  at  an  Academy  dinner, 
and  entirely  reconciled  to  the  peculiarities  of  John  Bull. 
To  Bayard  Taylor's  lectures  also  I  look  back  with  great 
pleasure. 

Ezra  Cornell,  our  Founder,  was  a  character  more  often 
produced,  I  take  it,  in  the  American  democracy  than  in 
any  other  commonwealth.  Raised  by  his  own  industry, 
intelligence,  and  vigor  from  the  ranks  of  labor  to 
wealth,  he  retained  the  simplicity  of  his  early  state  and 
aspired,  not  to  social  or  political  rank,  but  to  that  of  a 
great  and  beneficent  citizen.     His  first  question  on  find- 


The  Early  Days  of  ComeU 


ing  himself  wealthy  was  how  he  could  do  most  good 
with  his  money.  He  resolved  on  founding  a  University 
for  the  special  benefit  of  poor  students.  His  idea  was 
that  a  young  man  might  support  himself  by  manual 
labour  and  pursue  his  studies  at  the  same  time.  This 
proved  an  illusion.  The  experiment  was  tried,  and  I 
remember  seeing  a  notice  to  those  who  desired  employ- 
ment in  tending  masons,  but  the  result  was  failure. 
After  all,  we  draw  on  the  same  fund  of  nervous  energy 
for  the  labour  of  the  hand  and  for  that  of  the  brain. 
Only  in  a  man  so  vigorous  as  Ezra  Cornell  could  the 
same  fund  supply  both.  A  general  invitation  to  young 
men  of  the  artisan  class  in  England  which  in  the  full- 
ness of  his  benevolence  Ezra  Cornell  put  forth,  had  it 
been  accepted,  might  have  brought  trouble  on  his 
hands. 

I  see  the  old  gentleman  now  in  his  familiar  buggy  or 
sitting  in  the  chair  of  state  at  Cascadilla  on  Founder's 
Day.  His  figure  and  face  bespoke  force  and  simplicity 
of  character.  His  will  undoubtedly  was  strong,  and  as 
he  could  not  be  familiar  with  Universities,  it  would 
have  led  him  astray  had  there  not  been  at  his  side  the 
best  of  advisers  in  the  person  of  Andrew  White,  whose 
self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  enterprise  for  which  he 
left  his  elegant  home  and  his  ample  library  at  Syracuse, 


The  E»rly  Day«  oi  Cornell 


with  the  salutary  influence  which  he  exercised  over  the 
Founder's  policy,  well  entitle  him  to  be  regarded  as  our 
co-founder.  In  the  early  days  I  have  no  doubt  he  had 
much  to  endure  in  the  way  of  anxiety  and  vexation  as 
well  as  in  that  of  discomfort. 

Cornell  rendered  the  most  vital  service  to  tl;e  Uni- 
versity by  locating  the  scrip  given  to  the  State  of  New 
York  by  the  Federal  Government  in  pine  lands,  while 
other  States  sold  their  scrip  at  the  market  price.  That 
measure,  while  it  entailed  difficulties  and  struggles  for  a 
time,  was  in  the  end  our  financial  salvation. 

Ezra  Cornell  had  been  advised  to  place  the  University 
at  Syracuse  on  the  ground  that  the  social  attractions  of 
a  city  would  make  it  easier  to  obtain  professors.  But 
he  refused,  it  was  said,  for  the  reason  that  he  had  once 
in  his  humbUr  estate  waited  all  day  long  on  the  bridge 
at  Syracuse  to  be  hired,  and  at  last  had  been  hired  by  a 
man  who  cheated  him  of  his  wages.  If  this  was  a 
legend  it  was  well  invented.  But  it  has  been  truly  said 
that  there  is  no  pleasure  more  intense  than  that  of  being 
great  where  once  you  were  little;  and  that  pleasure 
must  have  been  enjoyed  by  Ezra  Cornell  in  a  high  de- 
gree when  he  saw  his  University  rising  .ibove  the  lowly 
home  of  his  early  days. 

Eminently  plain,  frugal,  and  abstemious  in  his  own 


The  Early  Dar>  oi  Cornell  9 

habits,  Ezra  Cornell  would  fain  have  impressed  the  same 
character  on  the  students  of  Cornell.  If  he  saw  a  boy 
smoking  he  would  go  up  to  him  and  ask  In'm  if  he  had 
fifty  per  cent  of  brain  power  to  spare.  In  this  austere 
opinion  he  had  on  his  side  an  eminent  professor  of  math- 
ematics at  Oxford  who  told  me  that  he  marked  a  decline 
of  brain  power  in  his  pupils,  and  that  for  it  he  blamed 
the  weed.  Perhaps  for  us  Eton  boys  who  had  nothing 
like  fifty  per  cent  of  brain  power  to  spare,  it  was  as  well 
that  we  were  forbidden  to  smoke.  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
Ezra  would  hardly  have  smiled  on  athletics  in  their  pres- 
ent high  development.  The  fashion  had  its  origin  in 
a  social  element  to  him  quite  alien,  that  of  the  wealthy 
youth  of  the  English  Universities;  though  I  hardly 
think  that  in  its  native  seat  the  fashion  has  prevailed  in 
its  extreme  extent  or  assumed  this  quasi-professional 
character.  An  English  boy,  however,  being  congratu- 
lated on  his  score  at  cricket,  magnanimously  replied  that 
he  did  not  care  about  it  for  himself  but  had  wished  to 
give  a  lift  to  his  father,  his  father  being  a  politician  of 
high  rank.  Wellington  was  supposed  to  have  said  that 
Waterloo  had  been  won  on  the  playing  fields  of  Eton. 
In  the  playing  fields  of  Eton  when  I  was  there,  play  was 
play  and  nothing  more.  Nevertheless  those  boys  did 
win  Waterloo. 


-^-.V'«V^.    M^.- J  -M-  y^*-- 


The  Eailr  Days  of  Comell 


Now  Ezra  Cornell  sleeps  in  his  grave  of  honour.  His 
epitaph  in  the  Memorial  Chapel,  like  that  of  Wren  in 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  might  be  Circumspice. 

A  figure  which  my  memory  couples  with  Ezra  Cor- 
nell is  that  of  John  McGraw,  like  Cornell  a  self-made 
millionaire,  and  like  Cornell  retaining  in  wealth  the 
frugal  simplicity  of  his  early  days.  Like  Cornell  too  he 
was  generous,  as  the  McGraw  building  bears  witness. 
More  of  his  wealth  might  have  ultimately  come  to  the 
University,  as  I  L  ieve,  if  American  advocates  and 
judges  had  been  more  familiar  with  English  history. 
The  English  Statute  of  mortmain,  which  apparently 
was  mechanically  reproduced  in  the  Statute-book  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  was  not  made  to  check  benefac- 
tions to  national  institutions  or  to  objects  approved  by 
the  State,  but  to  check  the  aggrandizement  of  the  Church 
and  the  Papacy,  which  threatened  not  only  to  absorb 
property  to  an  inordinate  extent,  but  to  impair  the  mili- 
tary organization  of  the  feudal  realm.  But  the  chimes 
of  Jennie  McGraw  are  still  vocal  with  the  memory  of 
the  kind  and  gentle  benefactress  of  Cornell. 

Cascadilla  held  us  all  at  first.  The  old  pile  claims 
oar  veneration  as  the  cradle  of  University  life.  It  is 
pleasant  to  see  the  gay  vines  creeping  over  it  and  soft- 
ening its  austere  grandeur.     In  early  times  at  night, 


The  Early  Days  of  Cornel) 


when  every  window  in  it  was  lighted,  it  was  a  truly 
brilliant  object.  Life  in  it  was  perhaps  not  very  luxu- 
rious ;  but  it  was  very  social.  The  sight  of  it  recalls  to 
my  memory  many  pleasant  evenings  and  many  a  game 
of  euchre.  My  thoughts  often  revert  to  my  rooms  in 
Cascadilla  and  to  the  platform  from  which  I  used  to  gaze 
on  sunsets  more  gorgeous  than  those  of  my  native  land, 
and  sometimes  to  watch  the  eagle  hovering  over  the  lake. 

In  those  days  I  used  to  keep  up  my  British  habit  of 
taking  exercise  by  long  walks.  I  would  go  to  Dryden, 
spend  the  night  there,  and  return  on  foot  next  day. 
Farmers  with  their  teams  seeing  me  plodding  on  foot 
and  not  understanding  the  British  mania  would  kindly 
offer  me  a  ride.  Once  I  fell  in  with  a  farmer  who  was 
on  foot  and  had  a  long  walk  and  talk  with  him.  He 
let  fall  something  which  seemed  to  imply  that  he  took 
me  for  an  American.  Candour  compelled  me  to  confess 
that  I  was  only  a  Britisher.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  knew 
you  to  be  a  Britisher  by  your  brogue." 

A  summer  vacation  partly  spent  at  Cascadilla  was 
not  dull.  I  had  then  a  circle  of  Ithacan  f-iends  and 
acquaintances,  now  sadly  reduced.  Then  ere  was  a 
short  sojourn  at  the  little  watering  place  of  Spencer 
Springs,  from  which  I  attended  a  Camp  Meeting  and 


The  Early  D»yi  of  Cornell 


heard  "  Rock  of  Ages"  sung  by  many  voices  in  a  green 
temple  of  nature  lighted  by  the  stars. 

Most  Europeans  visiting  the  United  States  form  their 
judgment  of  the  character  of  the  people  and  of  the  polit- 
ical situation  from  what  they  see  in  the  great  cities.  I 
had  two  years'  intercourse  with  the  people  of  what  was 
then  at  all  events  a  rural  town,  and  was  thereby  inspired 
with  confidence  in  the  fundamental  soundness  of  the 
Republic.  I  have  often  said  that  if  a  great  question 
were  laid  before  the  people  of  Ithaca  with  proper  infor- 
mation and  sufficient  time  for  reflection  they  rould 
settle  it  aright.  There  is  danger  no  doubt  to  popular 
judgment  from  the  dilution  of  the  native  American  ele- 
ment by  immigration  beyond  the  assimilating  power  of 
the  public  schools  and  other  nationalizing  forces. 
Otherwise  it  is  not  in  the  people,  as  It  seems  to  me,  but 
in  the  politicians  that  the  danger  lies. 

There  came  out  to  me  fourteen  English  workni-  n  to 
be  helped  in  their  start  here.  None  of  them  attempted 
to  combine  study  with  work.  But  I  believe  they  did 
well ;  some  of  them  very  well.  A  memorial  of  their 
stay  is  the  stone  seat  which  I  see  still  on  the  Campus, 
the  work  of  their  hands,  with  the  inscription :  "  Above 
All  Nations  is  Humanity." 

Mr.  Cornell  said  to  me  that  he  hoped  the  day  would 


The  Emit  Dst*  of  Come!! 


13 


come  when  there  would  be  five  thousand  students  in  his 
University.  I  could  not  help  hinting  that  there  might 
be  danger  in  such  a  multitude.  Would  there  be  a 
market  for  all  the  five  thousand  ?  If  there  were  not, 
what  would  become  of  the  balance?  Nothing  can  be 
more  miserable  than  a  man  whose  sensibilities  have 
been  cultivated  by  education  and  v.-ho  wants  bread. 
This  is  a  serious  question  for  us  when  we  are  multiply- 
ing Universities.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  at  present  it 
gives  birth  to  no  anxiety  at  Cornell.  There  are  more 
applications  I  am  told,  especially  in  the  line  of  scientific 
manufactures,  for  Cornell  graduates  than  there  are  C'>r- 
nell  graduates  to  fill  them.  Still  I  *hink  the  question 
is  serious.  So  is  tluit  of  forcing  education  generally, 
at  least  beyond  the  measure  which  is  practically  useful. 
If  all  could  go  into  intellectual  callings  it  would  be  well. 
But  as  society  is  at  present  ordered  we  have  to  guard 
against  depleting  the  ordinary  industries  and  over-stock- 
ing  the  more  intellectual  lines.  "  Some  hands,"  as 
Carlyle  said,  "  must  still  be  soiled  b.-  ploughing." 

The  ideal  and  instruments  of  education  with  which 
I  came  into  contact  in  passing  from  Eton  and  Oxford  to 
Cornell  were  essentially  new  to  me.  The  ideal  of  Eton 
and  Oxford  was  cuUvre,  wholly  apart  from  bread-win- 
ning, and  the  instruments  of  culture  were  the  classics 


% 


U' 


»4 


The  Early  Day*  of  Cornell 


and  mathematics ;  mathematir'^  holding  at  Oxford  a  very 
secondary,  at  Eton  a  less  than  secondary,  place.     The 
regular  school  instruction  at  Eton  was  entirely  confined 
to  classics.    Even  mathematics  were  an  extra  recently 
imported.     The  mathematical  teacher  was  not  recog. 
nized  as  one  of  the  regular  staff.     He  did  not,  like  the 
masters,  wear  a  gown,  nor  did  the  boys  take  off  their 
hats  to  him.     It  was  said  that  when  he  first  came  he 
asked  the  old  Provost,  a  typical  conservative,  whether 
he  was  to  wear  a  -own.     "  That  is  as  you  please,"'  was 
the  reply.     "  But  are  the  boys  to  take  off  their  hats  to 
me?"     "That  is  as  they  please."     To  bread-winning 
the  s  ,stera  was  supposed  to  lead  only  by  general  strength- 
ening of  the  mind.     In  fact  it  was  that  of  a  class  which 
had  not  its  bread  to  win.     Moreover  it  was  a  legacy 
from  the  time  in  which  almost  all  the  knowledge  worth 
having,  as  wel!  as  all  the  literary  culture,  was  still  locked 
up  in  Greek  and  Latin.     At  Cornell,  founded  specially 
for  students  who  had  their  bread  to  win,  a  different 
ideal  and  system  naturally  awaited  me.     Here  practical 
science  reigns,  and  a  Cornell  degree  in  that  line  is  a  pass- 
port  to  employment.     The  line,  however,  between  prac- 
tical science  and  culture  is  not  hard  and  fast.     The 
study  of  science  in  so  far  as  it  exercises  and  enlightens 
the  mind  is  culture,  though  mechanical  application  is 


H 


V' 


The  EmIt  D«n  of  ConcO 


«5 


4 


not.    The  eliange  at  M  events  was  inevitable.     Even 
at   Eton  and  Oxford  there  have   been    changes;    the 
classics,  though  still  predominant,  have  been  making 
room  for  more  modern  and  practical  studies.    From  Cor- 
nell  the  '     nanities  have  not  been  banished  as  science 
and  the  bread-winning  studits  were  banished  from  Ox- 
ford  in  former  days.     The  government  has  done  its  best 
to  encourage  them.     To  them  is  to  be  devoted  the  Hall 
of  Humanities  in  which  the  Muses  are  to  reign,  and  the 
corner-stone  of  which  I  had  the  great  honour  of  laying 
the  other  day.     After  all,  the  object  is  to  train  not  only 
the  bread-winner  but  the  man.     The  bread  is  necessary 
to  the  bread-winner  not  only  as  his  food  but  to  enable 
him  to  maintain  a  home  and  to  enjoy  that  domestic 
affection  .vhieh  is  culture  in  the  highest  degree,  if  not 
of  the  intellect,  of  the  soul.     Yet  wealth  when  it  is 
made  can  be  but  half  enjoyed  without  any  source  of  in. 
tellectual  pleasure.     "  What  can  I  do,"  sighed  the  man, 
who,  having  made  a  fortune  by  building  saw-mills,  went 
on  building  them  in  the  evening  of  his  days;  "  I  have  no 
other  tastes  or  interests ;  what  can  I  do  but  build  saw- 
mills?"    The  wealthier  students  especially  are  bound 
to  be  true  to  culture  both  for  their  own  sakes  and  be- 
cause they  give  a  tone  to  society.     In  this  Common- 
wealth, where  there  are  no  titles  and  politics  are  not  to 


l6 


The  Earlr  D«yi  oi  Cornell 


the  taste  of  all,  the  heir  of  wealth  ihoiild  try  to  equip 
himself  for  the  part  of  a  noble  citizen. 

In  this  highly  practical  age  and  continent  there  are 
those  who  would  not  only  banisli  classical  culture  from 
the  Universities,  but  apparently  would  put  an  end  to 
College  training  altogether,  holding  that  it  not  only 
does  not  fit,  but  actually  unfits  for  the  one  great  object 
of  life.     It  has  bten  said  that  an  oflfice  boy  at  fourteen 
is  worth  more  than  a  College  man  of  four  and  twenty. 
All  honour  and  success  to  the  ofl^ce  boy.     Productive 
indLslry  must  be  the  general  foundation,  though  not 
the  whole  edifice  of  civilization.     We  live  by  bread, 
though  not  by  bread  alone.     Survey  the  history  of  man- 
kind; consider   through   what  effort,   what  struggles 
what  sufferings  humanity  has  been  striving  to  reach  the 
goal  of  perfection.     If  all  wa-  destined  to  enc^  '    the 
office  boy,  Providence,  with   due  reverence  be        jaid 
might  have  taken  a  more  direct  and  more  mercift    'oad 
to  its  mark.     The  admirers  of  the  office  boy,  per..aps, 
have  not  fully  considered  how  much  productive  industry 
owes  to  the  most  abstraot  science  and  even,  though  less 
dir«ctly,  to  cultivation  and  taiio 

At  Oxford  I  was  always  for  the  abolition  of  compul. 
sory  Greek  on  the  simple  ground  that  in  the  case  of  the 
vast  majority  of  students  it  could  not  be  thoroughly 


The  Ru\r  D»y>  of  ComcU 


17 


taught.  Very  small  wai  the  number  of  those  who  after 
cramming  it  for  their  degree  ever  again  opened  a  Greek 
book.  We  must  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  our  scien- 
tific,  philosophic,  and  medical  language  is  Greek,  and 
that  if  the  knowledge  of  Greek  were  lost  the  words 
would  become  mere  counters,  alien  to  the  rest  of  the 
language,  without  historical  or  living  sigi.; Seance. 

The  world  appears  to  be  falling  under  the  dominion 
of  accumulated  wealth.  Money  sways  the  legislature  | 
money  sways  the  press.  This  would  not  be  good,  even 
if  the  wealth  were  always  in  the  best  of  hands.  No  one 
can  look  forward  with  satisfaction  to  such  an  end  of  all 
this  political  and  social  effort  as  Plutocracy.  But  how 
is  that  result  to  be  averted  ?  It  begins  to  be  whispered. 
By  force ;  a  terrible  remedy  and  one  which  would  be  apt 
to  shatter  not  only  Plutocracy,  but  the  social  system. 
The  office  boy  evidently  will  offer  no  resistance.  A 
place  in  the  Plutocracy  is  the  aim  of  his  ambition.  The 
College  boy,  having  a  different  if  >  il,  may  offer  resist- 
ance, though  of  a  happitr  and  more  salutary  kind  than 
force,  and  indeed  is  offering  it  now. 

Among  the  accumulators  of  great  fortunes  themselves, 
some  of  the  most  large-minded  and  benevolent  have  paid 
homage  to  high  education  by  the  foundation  and  en- 
dowment of  Universities.  We  have  an  illustrious  in- 
stance of  this  in  our  own  Founder. 


18 


The  Early  Days  of  Cornell 


Another  important  point  of  difference  which  struck 
me  at  once  was  the  absence  of  competitive  examination, 
prizes,  and  honour  lists,  which  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
are  the  great  stimulants  to  industry.  The  stimulant  is 
needed  when  the  study,  however  valuable  as  mental 
training,  is  not  in  itself  profitable,  as  are  not  Latin  and 
Greek  or  the  study  of  mathematics  of  which  the  student 
is  never  to  make  any  practical  application.  In  the  case 
of  bread-winning  studies  there  is  obviously  no  need  of 
such  a  stimulant.  Competition  may  be  useful  in 
awakening  dormant  powers.  Lord  Althorpe  said  that 
it  was  comoetition  for  a  college  prize  which  first 
awakened  his  intellect  and  led  to  his  becoming,  instead 
of  a  mere  game-preserver  and  fox-hunter,  a  successful 
leader  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Cases  of  this  kind 
there  may  be.  But  ambition  is  not  generally  the  parent 
of  happiness  ;  nor  am  I  sure  that  the  effect  of  prizes  is 
always  wholesome.  The  intrinsic  value  of  the  study 
and  the  hope  of  acquiring  through  it  an  honest  liveli- 
hood are  the  sounder  and  healthier  motive.  I  should 
be  sorry  to  see  the  competitive  system,  if  it  were  possi- 
ble, introduced  here. 

New  to  me  again  were  the  Fraternities,  into  one  of 
which,  the  Psi  Upsilon,  I  had  the  honour  to  be  admitted 
in  company  with  Andrew  White,  of  whose  friendship  I 


' 


The  Early  Days  of  CommII 


19 


am  proud,  and  Willard  Fiske,  whose  death  I  deplore. 
I  have  heard  misgivings  about  the  system  of  Fraterni- 
ties expressed  in  a  quarter  deserving  of  respect.     There 
are  no  doubt  varieties  of  character  among  them,  and 
there  may  be  evils  against  which  it  is  necessary  to 
guard.     There  may  be  danger  of  cliquishness.     But  in 
a  University  of  three  thousand  students  there  must  be 
inner  circles,  and  there  seems  no  reason  for  believing 
that  Fraternities  are  likely  to  be  more  cliquish   than 
inner  social  circles  otherwise  formed  would  be.     Oxford 
and  Cambridge  are  federations  of  colleges,  by  each  of 
which  to  some  extent  inner  social  circles  are  formed. 
What  the  colleges  do  for  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  Frater- 
nities do  in  a  different  way  here.     Friendships  and  in- 
terchange of  ideas  are  secondary  objects  of  college  life, 
compared  with  study ;  yet  they  are  important  objects, 
as  any  one  looking  back  upon  his  college  life  will  feel. 
A  Fraternity  is  surely  better  for  this  purpose  than  a 
dormitory.     Nor  does  the  connection  wholly  end  there. 
You  have  still  the  Fraternity  record,  linking  the  lives 
in   some   measure   together   and  serving  perhaps  in  a 
slight  degree  to  help  in  keeping  the  path  of  honour.     In 
this  wide  continent,  with  its  vast  and  shifting  popula- 
tion,  where  a  life  begun  in  New  York  is  continued  in 
Chicago  and  ends  in  California,  we  should  be  grains  in 


The  Early  Days  of  Cornell 


'  ii 


a  vast  sand-heap  blown  about  by  the  winds  if  we  had 
not  bonds  of  some  kind  to  connect  us  with  each  other. 
Of  course  I  do  not  mean  to  defend  anything  so  plainly 
wrong  as  rowdy  or  dangerous  forms  of  initiation.  I 
would  not  defend  these  any  more  than  I  would  defend 
hazing,  of  which  we  shall  some  day  be  sick.  At  Ox- 
ford we  had  hazing  in  a  very  mild  form.  But  the 
victims  there  were  not  so  often  fellow-students  as 
members  of  the  Faculty,  Dons  as  they  were  called. 
A  common  trick  was  to  screw  up  the  outer  door,  "  the 
oak,"  as  it  was  named,  of  a  Don's  room,  and  thus  pre- 
vent his  appearance  at  morning  Chapel,  a  disappoint- 
ment which,  if  he  was  good-natured,  was  calmly  borne. 
But  if  those  young  gentlemen  had  practiced  hazing 
much  upon  each  other,  we  should  have  had  serious  quar- 
rels. Hazing  broke  out  once  at  my  College.  The  vic- 
tim was  an  unpopular  student.  The  member  of  the 
Faculty  who  had  to  deal  with  the  case  having  the  cul- 
prits before  him  said  :  "  Young  gentlemen,  if  you  want 
to  play  practical  jokes  on  any  body  play  them  on  me,  and 
I  hope  I  shall  not  catch  you.  Me  you  cannot  insult. 
Insult  your  fellow-student  you  may.  We  are  the  guard- 
ians of  the  honour  of  everyone  beneath  this  roof  and  we 
mean  to  fulfill  that  trust."  We  did  not  in  that  College 
hear  of  any  more  hazing. 


, 


The  Eatlr  Days  of  ComeU 


Yet  another  thing  new  to  me  then,  though  now  famil- 
iar, was  co-education,  introduced  by  Mr.  Sage,  the  mu- 
nificent founder  of  Sage  College.  One  past  middle-age 
does  not  readily  take  in  new  ideas.  I  am  afraid  I  have 
not  very  heartily  embraced  co-education.  I  used  to  look 
with  conservative  sympathy  on  Wells  College.  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  should  not  do  so  now.  Equality  of  the 
sexes  by  all  means,  in  suitable  culture  as  in  other  re- 
spects. But  perfect  equality  is  compatible  with  diver- 
sity of  gifts  and  distinction  of  parts  in  life.  Are  the  co- 
educationists  sure  that  they  are  not  diverting  woman's 
ideal,  or  that  in  diverting  woman's  ideal  they  would  do 
right,  making  her  the  rival  instead  of  the  help-mate  and 
companion  of  man  ?  In  the  domestic  firmament  clouds 
appear  to  be  rising.  Nature,  we  all  admit,  has  shown 
good  judgment  and  taste  in  making  two  sexes.  At  all 
events  she  has  done  it,  and  when  you  oppose  her  she 
generally  has  her  way.  It  does  not  seem  that  Vassar, 
Elmira,  or  Wells  loses  favour.  A  large  proportion  no 
doubt  of  our  female  students  are  preparing  for  teacher- 
ships  in  schools.  Theirs  is  a  special  case ;  though  the 
policy  of  cor  "9;ning  the  education  of  both  sexes  in  our 
schools  entiu.y  to  women,  begins  itself  to  be  the  subject 
of  discussion.     However,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that. 


The  Early  Days  of  ConieU 


granting  the  principle,  Sage  College  is  a  great  success 
and  a  noble  monument  of  the  beneficence  of  its  founder. 
There  is,  I  think,  a  perceptible  difference  in  character 
between  the  English  and  American  student,  the  result 
of  the  different  social  moulds  in  which  the  characters 
have  been  cast.  The  English  student  looks  to  being 
ruled  by  academical  law  and  is  ruled  with  ease,  pro- 
vided you  do  not  touch  his  pride,  question  his  veracity, 
or  irritate  him  by  that  which  of  all  things  he  most 
abhors,  the  employment  of  espionage.  The  American 
student  is  more  a  law  to  himself  and  might  be  less 
patient  of  the  restrictions  of  an  English  College.  'T'he 
trial  of  the  Rhodes  students  will  be  a  test.  I  cannot 
say  that  I  should  myself  have  welcomed  that  founda- 
tion. I  see  no  use,  while  I  see  possible  evil,  in  the 
transfer  of  a  set  of  promising  youths  in  the  formative 
period  of  life  to  a  social  element  different  from  that  in 
which  their  after  years  are  to  be  passed.  An  American 
youth  may  now  get  just  as  good  an  education  even  of 
the  classical  kind  in  his  own  country  as  he  can  in  Eng- 
land. The  underlying  motive  of  the  foundation  is 
political,  and  with  politics,  universities,  like  churches, 
have  nothing  to  do ;  they  are  the  missionaries  of  science 
and  culture.  Athletic  success  and  social  popiflanty  are 
not  academical  qualificat'ons,  nor  is  social  popularity  a 


The  Early  D«ys  of  Conicll 


23 


perfectly  sound  qualiBcation  in  itself.  Candour  bids  me 
add  that  T,  should  have  recoiled  from  making  my  Uni- 
versity  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Cecil  Rhodes. 

Two  years  the  English  Professor  spent  in  teaching  at 
Cornell,  and  in  his  long  life  there  have  not  been  two 
better  or  happier  years  than  those.  He  is  often  re- 
minded of  them  by  the  greeting  of  an  old  Cornell  pupil. 
It  was  not  by  any  failure  of  interest  in  his  work  at 
Cornell  that  he  was  afterwards  called  to  Canada,  and 
to  the  homes  of  branches  of  his  family  settled  before 
him  there. 


